You said you wanted to die with me. I'll make sure it happens.

“Elara!” Caleb finally reacted, rushing onto the stage, shouting my name. But he cradled Cassandra in his arms, soothing her. He snapped the knife handle with brute force, then stripped off his jacket and wrapped it around Cassandra's hand. Only after all that did he finally turn to look at me. His eyes were an utterly complex mess of emotions. “Escort CEO Hayes home.” It was the first time he'd called me CEO Hayes. As the words left his lips, he continued. “Effective immediately, freeze all of Elara Hayes's positions and authorities within the group. Without my explicit permission, she is forbidden to step foot on company grounds.” The man who had just declared he'd be with me until death. He froze all my power in less than three minutes. He shielded his genius prodigy, not sparing me another glance. A searing pain in my temple blurred my vision. It hurt a thousand, ten thousand times more than any blade piercing flesh. I was sent home by bodyguards. It wasn't until midnight that I heard a sound in the entryway. Caleb stood before me, bringing with him Cassandra’s lily scent. “Elara, you were too impulsive today.” I didn't answer him, simply pushing the prepared document across to him. The words "Partnership Termination Agreement" seemed to sting his eyes. “Elara, I told you, unless it's a matter of life or death, we’ll never separate. I won't go back on my word.” I slowly looked up, my voice calm, almost mechanical. “Watching you protect another woman with my own eyes – is that your proof of keeping your word?” “I spent five years in prison for you. Can't you still trust my feelings for you?” Caleb pressed closer, and I retreated step by step until my back hit the cold glass of the floor-to-ceiling window. A chill seeped through my thin nightgown, into my skin. Outside, the empire we built together, illuminated, sparkling like a galaxy. He pinned me tightly between him and the glass. His warmth and the window's coldness assaulted me from both sides. “Elara, trust me.” He kissed me fiercely, urgently, like he was devouring me. His hand slid under my nightgown. His burning palm pressed against my cold skin, moving with irresistible force, tracing upwards over my shoulder blades, finally stopping at my ear, pressing me against the glass, forcing me to look down. “Elara, look at them. We created this, every person, every shimmering light. It's all ours.” “Don’t make a scene, okay?” This was his way of comforting me. Pinning me against the glass, making me watch as everything I created was humiliated by him. What if it were Cassandra? I gazed at that dazzling sea of lights, remembering the night we brought down our biggest rival. I attended that gala, drank until my stomach bled, and almost lost a limb. Meanwhile, Caleb spent the entire night with Cassandra, because of a single FaceTime call from her. When I left the hospital, dawn was almost breaking. Back then, he said I was an unconquerable rose, and Cassandra was a lily needing protection. He said his visits to Cassandra were like my battles for the company—all for business. So, releasing that video of my humiliation at the company anniversary—was that also for business? “Get her out.” This was the last chance I gave him. Caleb held me tight. “I’m sorry, Elara.” “I didn't think she'd get hold of that video.” “But you shouldn't have made a scene at the anniversary. Poor handling will be bad for you.” “Don’t worry, by tomorrow, she'll be gone from this city.” He pressed me against the floor-to-ceiling window in a frenzy. The scent of raw passion filled the entire room. I closed my eyes, the throbbing in my temple slowly subsiding. The familiar scent filled my nostrils again. I remembered thirteen years ago, through the visitation glass, he told me: “Elara, wait for me for five years. Five years from now, I'll make everyone who looked down on you grovel at your feet.” Perhaps, I should trust him one more time. After all, in our despair, we were once each other’s only anchor.

A week later, I received a call from Marco. “Elara, Cassandra’s at Silverwood Estate.” Caleb not only hid her in our old secret hideaway. He even allocated the company's top technical personnel to her. He lied to me. In twenty years, he lied to me for the first time, all for a woman who publicly shamed me. The sharp tinnitus screamed in my right ear again. The throbbing in my temple made me restless. I drove straight into the estate. Inside, I found Caleb, holding Cassandra’s right hand, meticulously teaching her how to operate our core business model code. Cassandra saw me. She deliberately leaned her head on Caleb’s shoulder. Caleb didn't object, a smile touching his lips, overly tender. I turned my head, covering my right ear. Soul-shredding tinnitus swept over me. My gaze slowly locked onto a heavy metal flask. Amidst the buzzing in my brain, my eyes gradually lost all emotion. I lifted the heavy flask and hurled it violently at them. Caleb reacted incredibly fast. Hearing the shattering glass as the metal flask collided, he immediately shielded Cassandra. *Thud!* The metal flask hit his shoulder blade with a sickening crunch. He staggered forward uncontrollably, a large step. But he still fiercely protected the terrified Cassandra. “Elara Hayes, do you have to escalate this to a war to the death?!” My vision was still blurred, my mind screaming incessantly. A war to the death? From the moment she displayed my dignity for public consumption, all that was left between us was a war to the death. “Caleb Vance, sign the termination agreement. We’ll compete fairly, a war to the death.” Hearing my words, the anger in Caleb’s eyes gradually turned to weariness. “Elara, I told you, unless it's a matter of life or death, nothing can separate us.” “You're too agitated. I won't let you have blood on your hands. I'll personally supervise Cassandra. The rest of you, keep an eye on Elara.” He finished speaking, then helped the shaken Cassandra walk past me. As they reached the door, Cassandra, nestled in his arms, gave me a triumphant smile. “Elara, let’s go.” My crew came to support me. They all knew that ever since my trauma, the calmer I appeared, the more shattered my state. But Caleb forgot. His retreating back, as he protected Cassandra, was like a rusty knife twisting in my gut, leaving behind jagged, poisoned scars. Three days passed. I received no word from Caleb. The tinnitus, triggered by old wounds, tormented my nerves like a frantic, screaming bird. I sat by the floor-to-ceiling window night after night, watching the city outside that belonged to "us," until dawn. On the third day, just before sunrise. Caleb sent me a message. It was a photo. Caleb was spoon-feeding Cassandra porridge. His eyes were downcast, the lines of his profile taut, his expression unreadable. But companionship itself was a cruel display. I suddenly forgot how to breathe, instinctively wanting to throw my phone. A second message immediately popped up. The audio played automatically. Cassandra’s tearful voice blended with my ear ringing. “Caleb, I’m so scared. Is she really going to kill me? Will you… will you abandon me?” After a brief silence, Caleb’s voice was clear. “No, you're different from her.” “You’re… clean.” Clean? My headache grew increasingly severe. Years ago, to buy him time to escape, I was dragged into a moldy warehouse by those degenerates. When I emerged, I was covered in blood, my clothes ripped to shreds, like a discarded rag doll. The fragmented memories of those men, their terrified eyes, were like red-hot nails hammered deep into my brain. Back then, Caleb held me, sobbing until he lost his voice, repeating in my ear again and again: “Elara, don’t be afraid.” “Elara, they’re the dirty ones. To me, you’ll always be the cleanest girl in the world.” But now he finally said it. Cassandra was his "clean" one. And I was the filthy, tarnished contrast. I rushed into the bathroom, dry-heaving uncontrollably. Those men I'd torn apart years ago appeared before me one by one, mocking me relentlessly. My phone chimed again. I instinctively snatched it, only to see the most desperate memory of my life. The video showed my past assault, unedited. Every movement, every sound of despair, was terrifyingly clear. But it was mixed with Cassandra’s triumphant laughter: “Elara, Caleb says every time he sees this video of you, it reminds him how much you sacrificed for him, and then he wants to… compensate me even more.” “After all, I’m like the clean, untouched you from back then. It’s just a shame you can never be clean again.” “He also said watching how you were manipulated back then, and then teaching me new positions hands-on, is the most exciting.” “Sister, your sacrifice was truly magnificent. Caleb and I will be forever grateful.” I smashed my phone. The world instantly fell silent. My consciousness began to blur, but my mind was clearer than ever before. I retrieved the old burner phone hidden in a secret compartment. “Marco, get some guys to wipe all the surveillance footage from the private clinic. Physically wipe it.” “And find me a few men. The scum of the earth. The most depraved creatures you can find.”

Inside the private clinic. The moment Cassandra saw me, she sat up in terror. “Elara Hayes! What… what are you trying to do?! Help! Security! Caleb! Help me!” I leaned against the wall and waved my hand. The men Marco found, rubbing their hands obscenely, advanced on her step by step. “Don’t come closer! Don’t you dare!” Cassandra scrambled backwards. I personally tied her to an examination chair. Opposite her, I set up a massive projection screen. The moment I pressed the screen mirroring button on my phone. My eighteen-year-old self’s agonizing screams echoed repeatedly through the room. Every image on that screen was my nightmare, and now, Cassandra’s tool to humiliate me. I gripped Cassandra's chin, forcing her to look up at the screen. “Pretty, isn’t it? Weren't you keen to learn? Watch carefully.” My voice was soft, even tinged with a smile. But despite my gentleness, Cassandra shook her head in terror, tears and snot smearing her face. “No, not pretty, I don’t want to learn, I don’t… CEO Hayes, I was wrong, I’m truly sorry, please let me go… I beg you, please…” I laughed aloud. “Beg me? I merely want you to study hard. Why are you begging me?” “Weren't you so happy when you played this video at the anniversary gala?” With that, I ignored her frantic shaking, straightened up, and spoke coldly to the men. “Watch closely. Whatever was done in that video, that’s exactly what you do to her. Not one step wrong.” “Do it well, and I'll give you a swift end. Mess up… and you know what I’m capable of.” My gaze swept over them, and despair filled their eyes. When they turned to Cassandra, they inflicted all that unavoidable despair upon her. Soon, Cassandra’s wails filled the room. I pulled up a chair and sat down a short distance away, lighting a cigarette. Two overlapping screams of agony and lewd laughter constantly pierced through my mind. I forced Cassandra to keep her eyes wide open, making her clearly watch the screen. Before she even experienced the pain, it had already been simulated millions of times in her mind. When Caleb burst in, what he saw was this scene of hell on earth.

Cassandra's clothes were long since ripped to shreds. I exhaled a smoke ring, glancing at Caleb’s complex expression, and spoke calmly. “Wrong move. Do it again. Make it more authentic.” The men immediately stopped, beginning to repeat their actions over and over. Cassandra's sharp wails, her gaze fixed on Caleb, added another layer of agony to her suffering. “Elara… how… how could you…” Caleb looked at me, trembling from head to toe, his voice hoarse beyond recognition. He looked like he was seeing a demon risen from hell. “Why couldn't I?” I smiled, stood up, and walked over to him, sizing him up. “Caleb, have you forgotten what I did to reclaim our territory for you?” “You put on a suit and assumed high society champagne could truly wash the blood from our hands?” “Don't you like things clean? Don't you like using my videos to teach her positions? Now I'm doing it myself. How’s that, Caleb? Satisfied?” Smoke swirled between my fingers. He hit the doorframe with a dull thud. “Elara, what you want, I’ll give you…” His eyes were unfocused, his voice utterly broken and weak. Every word seemed to be wrenched from his chest with his last ounce of strength. “From today forward, we’re even!” He threw the "Partnership Termination Agreement" at me, his signature scrawled across it. He once said it would only end with death. Now he said we were even. In this world, where does one find such convenient arrangements, all for his benefit? I pulled out a lighter in front of him. *Click.* Orange flames rapidly consumed the black and white paper. The name "Caleb Vance" turned into flimsy ashes in my fingers. “Even?” “Caleb, you and I crawled out of the same stinking mud pit, stained with so much illicit blood, we’ve long been seasoned in the same foul muck, disgusting to the bone together.” “You and I, it only ends with death, how could we possibly be even?” As my words fell, Cassandra, who had been tormented to her absolute limit, finally broke. She even abandoned all pretense, desperately screaming at Caleb: “Caleb! Save me!” Caleb seemed to notice Cassandra for the first time then. He took two quick strides, but before he reached her, Marco blocked his way. “You’ve turned on me too, haven’t you?” He stared at Marco, his voice trembling, trying to get around him. But each time, Marco silently stood in his path. “Are you all blind?! Get him out of the way!” Caleb lost his composure in front of the crew for the first time. The men in the room slowly gathered around Marco. Forming a silent human wall, blocking Caleb. “You… you guys…” Caleb looked on in disbelief. The very men who had fought alongside him through thick and thin now stood entirely against him. “Caleb.” “Those five years you were in prison, Elara was the only one who led us useless lot, clawing our way back inch by inch from our rivals’ blades.” “For five years, you served your time peacefully inside, every penny you spent was our blood and sweat.” “And Elara, she led us in securing the foundation of this enterprise.” “She fought against the whole world alone. But when you walked out, glorious and suited, becoming a man of power, you started seeing us, your old loyalists, as stains on your polished path.” Marco's voice held a trace of imperceptible sarcasm. “Now, you even disdain Elara.” “We’re crude men, we don’t understand grand philosophies, but we know this: in this commercial empire, the one who sits at the highest position can only be Elara. No one else.”